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Black Wars
The Black Wars (also known as the Dragonborn wars or the 'Dragonborn Civil Wa'r) were a series of conflicts between Thulsa the Black and his supporters and the other Dragonborn Tribes, most notably the Lohikaarme, Khitai and Harcos tribes. It lasted 9 years and ended with a victory for Thulsa and the destruction or assimilation of all other dragonborn tribes. Lead Up To War Thulsa the Black was born a slave to a minor dragonborn house, but by the time he reached adulthood he had gained his freedom and, through martial prowess and clever political manoeuvring, even took control of the clan he had been enslaved to. Despite not having a huge army to speak of he was able to convince many neighbouring smaller tribes to join with him in a confederation to take all of the Flatlands. While many felt it was an impossible task Thulsa was determined. He was a brilliant tactician and a formidable warrior and he correctly surmised that the opposing dragonborn tribes would never unite, even against a common enemy. He decided to take them on, one by one. Initial Conflict and Thulsa's dominance The first major battle of the war was the so-called Children's Battle, named as such as it was one of the smaller battles of the war. Thulsa's army of 200,000 attacked the Alceni Tribe, who fielded 150,000 men against him. He easily defeated the inferior force and killed the tribal leaders. However, rather than slaughter the whole tribe or demand tribute and move on, which was standard practice amongst dragonborn tribes, Thulsa incorporated the tribe into his own, with new leaders chosen from within that tribe. This was shocking to the other dragonborn tribes, to whom the idea of joining with a defeated enemy was ludicrous. Thulsa did the same to the Halász Tribe after their defeat at the Battle of the Three Rivers and with these victories and an enlarged army he felt confident enough to attack one of the largest tribes in the Flatlands, the Khitai. The Major Tribes Enter the War Thulsa decided for a direct strike, attacking the port town of Khitaiváros, the seat of power of the Khitai tribe. The Siege of Khitaiváros (misnamed as Khitaiváros has no walls and the battle took place outside the city limits) Thulsa's army, now 350,000 strong, came against the bulk of the Khitai army, almost 400,000 men. The battle was hard-fought and bloody, lasting almost 5 days. Eventually both sides were forced to retreat to care for their wounded and regroup. As Thulsa was preparing for a renewed assault on the Khitai he found himself suddenly under attack from the Harcos, much to his surprise. While there was certainly no love between the Khitai and the Harcos, the Harcos recognised the potential threat that Thulsa presented and decided to nip it in the bud. Close to the ruins of the ancient Dragonborn city of Osiváros the Harcos army of 350,00 engaged a contingent of Thulsa's forces numbering 100,000 and soundly beat them. Thulsa spent the next year rebuilding his forces before engaging in another open battle. He fought at The Battle of The Lady's Flame. where the Khitai army, now aided by the foreign sorcerer Marth Herenyonnen joined with the Harcos army to form a host 550,000 strong. This came against Thulsa's army of 300,000. Through superior deployment and generalship Thulsa was almost able to claim victory, when it is said that the foreign sorcerer and priest Marth summoned forth a great firestorm that tore through Thulsa's men and caused a mass rout. For another year what was left of Thulsa's army raided in the south of the Flatlands away from the Khitai and Harcos lands. The local Dragonborn chieftains banded together to fight him off amassing an army of 300,000. However, Thulsa's spies were able to ascertain the armies movements and Thulsa ambushed them at The Battle of the Little Kings. This victory, as well as several minor ones that followed vastly increased the size of Thulsa's army. In the meantime the temporary truce that had existed between the Khitai and Harcos soon broke apart. Divided as they were they had no chance against Thulsa's forces. Final Battles First, at the Battle of the Broken Sword the Harcos army of 300,000 met Thulsa's army of 500,000 strong. The battle was hard fought, before Thulsa himself engaged Fegyver Harcos in single combat. The fight was fierce but eventually Thulsa broke Harcoskard, the sacred sword, and slew Fegyver. With their leader dead the army fled and Thulsa was victorious. Next he turned to the Khitai. Having suffered the most through the war, both through losses and internal tensions over their chief's new foreign god, they were badly outmatched. Still they fought hard and it is said Blue Hill turned red that day. However, their bravery and the foreign fire of Marth Herenyonnen was not enough to counter Thulsa's men, who at this point were battle hardened veterans. Szerencse Khatai escaped the battle and later died, either by suicide or assassination, no one is sure. Marth fled the Flatlands to continue his preaching elsewhere. This left only the Lohikaarme in opposition to Thulsa. They had been slow to react, arrogant in their own strength and dismissive of Thulsa's achievements. They gathered their banner-men together to form an army of 570,000, led by Alepoú Lohikaarme, known as the Great Fox. They met Thulsa's force of approximately 600,000 on the Plains of Fernot. What became known as Battle of the Dead Fox raged for 7 days and was one of the largest and bloodiest battles ever seen in the Flatlands. More than half a million dragonborn died and the land became so contaminated with blood that to this day nothing grows there. Alepoú Lohikaarme himself killed Njal Tehetetlen in single combat before being killed in turn by Barras Threeclaw. While the battle raged Thulsa sent a contingent of men to burn down the mostly undefended Lohikaarme village. With few exceptions, most notably the infant Lykos Lohikaarme, all the major nobles of the Lohikaarme tribe were wiped out. By the end of the battle there were none left in the Flatlands who contested Thulsa's rule.